Why Hugh Jackman turned down the role of James Bond

Every actor in his or her lifetime wants to suit up and do action sequences like ‘007’ James Bond. And then there is Hugh Jackman, who rejected the role of the special MI6 detective because of a reason that maybe taken as something “unbelievable”.

According to an interview with a leading U.S. publication, Jackman rejected the role of James Bond because he felt the scripts had become “unbelievable and crazy”, reports Contactmusic.com.

The actor noted, “I was about to do X-Men 2 and a call came from my agent asking if I’d be interested in Bond. I just felt at the time that the scripts had become so unbelievable and crazy, and I felt like they needed to become grittier and real. And the response was, ‘Oh, you don’t get a say. You just have to sign on.'”

Ultimately, though, what turned Jackman away from pursuing the role was the potential demands of two blockbuster roles. “I was also worried that between Bond and X-Men,’ I’d never have time to do different things,” noted Jackman.

Hugh explained that for a portion of his career, he worried about being pigeon-holed as an actor. But, the main reason for saying no to the role was that he wanted to prove his versatility as a performer.

“I always tried to do different things. But there was a time between X-Men 3 and the first Wolverine movie when I could see the roles getting smaller. People wanted me to play that kind of hero part exclusively. It felt a little bit claustrophobic,” explained Jackman.

It should be noted Daniel Craig will play the role for presumably his final time in the thus-far untitled ‘Bond 25’, that starts shooting early next year.